You Only Love Twice (28 page)

She winked his way and started toward the open bar. “I know
what I’m doing, Ten.”

She heard him curse but then came a grudging, “Do you have
everything you need? Erin? Can you back her up?”

“Already there.” Erin strode up to the bar. She looked more
sophisticated than normal. Erin was a boots and jeans kind of girl, but Phoebe
could admit that she cleaned up quite nicely. She wore a green gown that was
fairly modest, but there was no way to truly cover Erin’s curves. The emerald
color complemented her skin. “I’ve got everything we need to have a fun time.”

Phoebe ordered the drinks and almost didn’t see the moment
Erin tipped her hand over the whiskey glass and poured the roofie in. “Want to
have a threesome?”

Erin grinned. “Oh, and I thought I was going to get through
this entire conference without a single ménage à trois with a douchebag I would
rather punch in the face than look at. Thanks, friend.”

They picked up the drinks and started to make their way
back.

“Phoebe, you get in, you plant a bug and you get out,” Ten’s
voice commanded. “Right now Jesse’s working with Simon on something, but the
minute he gets back he’s going to look for you. I swear to god this is the last
time I take a couple with me on assignment, especially where the male is a
possessive caveman. Make it quick.”

Albertson turned and his eyes went wide. “Hey, who’s your
friend?”

Erin’s lips curled up in a surprisingly seductive grin.
Apparently there was a reason Tag had hired her that had nothing to do with her
ability to kick ass. “Phoebe and I both work for Kash, but he’s busy.” She
looked back to where Kamdar was holding court. “He’s got enough female
attention, don’t you think?”

He licked his lips right before downing the entire glass of
whiskey. “I think he’s got more than enough. Come on, girls. Let’s go party
like real Americans.”

She caught Theo watching them as they began to walk out of
the ballroom. He was practically staring a hole through Erin, but he held his
ground. His face flushed slightly, and she wondered what her brother was saying
into Theo’s ear. Poor Ten. He was used to his band of merry men who had each
other’s backs, and the biggest drama they had was where to buy beer. There was
a reason he never worked with couples. No matter how professional, they
couldn’t stay cool and collected when the one they loved was in danger. Theo
and Erin weren’t a couple, but it was obvious Theo was interested and not in
sharing her with some politician.

“I’ve got some good Scotch in my room. Nothing but the
best,” Albertson said, starting to slur his words.

“What floor are you on?” Phoebe asked as they walked into
the elevator. She needed to get him as close to his room as possible before he
couldn’t walk on his own anymore. Even in the hotel, there could be issues with
anything considered lewd behavior, including men and women touching in the
halls.

“Five. Jeez, you’ve got nice tits, babe.” He stumbled into
the elevator and hit the button. Luckily, they were alone. He threw an arm
around Phoebe’s shoulders and another around Erin’s. “You two are hot. Are you
going to kiss?”

Erin nodded. “I’m so much more likely to kiss her than you.”

He just sighed. “Show me your tits.”

Oh, he was a charmer. “As soon as we make it to your room. I
need to relax a little. You can help me with that, right?”

His eyes were starting to close. “Yeah. I can help. You just
stick with a winner. I’m a winner.”

His head fell forward and Phoebe groaned under his weight.
For a slender dude, he was solid.

“I’m going to need a room number,” Erin said quietly,
keeping her head down. “What’s his name?”

“Albertson. He’s going to be listed with the senator’s
party,” Phoebe said, doing the same. There were cameras in the elevators.

“Chill, sweetheart,” Hutch said, his voice smooth over the
comm. “I believe you will find that the cameras in this elevator and on the
fifth floor are going to have a little trouble. You have five minutes and then
I can’t stop them from coming back on. You get in and out fast, you understand,
Thelma and Louise?”

Ten took over. “He’s in 5105. It’s four doors down from the
elevator you’re in. Take a left and move it. I don’t want anyone to remember
you tomorrow. That roofie should erase the last thirty minutes or so. If anyone
remembers you walking out with him, you were helping him to his room.”

“Understood.” The doors opened and she and Erin started down
the hall.

“I think by calling us Thelma and Louise, Hutch was giving
me permission to shoot this guy in the balls.”

Erin was way too eager to shoot dudes in the balls. It
seemed to be a viable pastime for her. “I think he was trying to tell us to not
go over the Grand Canyon in a Thunderbird. Damn he’s heavy. Can you get the key
card?”

“I knew you’d make me do the nasty stuff.” They made it to
the room Ten had told them to go to. The halls were quiet and they weren’t
going to have a better shot at getting through this than now. Erin reached into
the completely deadweight asshole’s pants pocket and came back with the key
card. She swiped the card and they stumbled through, Phoebe turning and locking
the door behind him.

Erin let Albertson drop right to the floor.

Phoebe sighed. “We have to get him to the bed.”

“Why?” Erin was already moving through the room, checking
the closets and the bathroom. “He looks so peaceful there.”

She stepped over Albertson’s body and prayed Erin hadn’t
actually killed him. She wouldn’t put it past Erin to overdose the bastard. She
reached into her small bag and pulled out two tiny bugs. “You see anything?”

Erin stepped out of the bathroom, holding a brown pill jar.
“He takes the little blue pill. So much for our big stud.”

“That doesn’t matter.” And it wasn’t totally surprising. She
moved into the living area of the suite. It looked like Albertson was bunking
by himself, which likely meant he really was high up in the senator’s
organization. She glanced around, looking for the best place to plant the bugs.
There was a small sitting area and a desk with a laptop. “Check and see if
that’s password protected.”

She slipped the tiny listening device under the coffee
table, placing the sticky piece to the inside. It would capture any
conversations that occurred in this part of the suite.

“Sorry,” Erin said, closing the laptop again. “It’s locked
up tight. I’m sure Hutch could break it, but I’m not exactly Suzy Hacker. I
could smash it if you like. It’s fun to break things.”

Phoebe shook her head as she walked through to the bedroom.
She flicked on the light and strode across to the bed. She ran a hand inside
the headboard, looking for the best place to situate the device. “You planning
on breaking Theo?”

She couldn’t help it. She knew she shouldn’t pick on the
redhead, but it was so easy to do.

Erin showed up in the doorway and entered the bedroom, going
straight for Albertson’s briefcase that was placed on the bedroom desk. She
rifled through it. “I will if he gives me more trouble.”

Phoebe placed the bug and held it to make sure it stuck.
“He’s not a bad-looking kid.”

That was an understatement. He was a young Ian Taggart, so
Theo looked a little like a Viking god.

“Kid is the vital word in that sentence.” Erin sifted
through a stack of papers. “He’s twenty-nothing for god’s sake.”

“He just turned twenty-three. You’re not that much older.”
She glanced around the space. They had roughly two and a half minutes before
they needed to be gone.

“I’m thirty-four, and I’ve seen more in my lifetime than
that little boy has ever imagined. He’s got mommy issues. I don’t need a kid.”
There was something hollow about the way she said it, but then she shook her
head. “Now, that pretty king on the other hand is definitely on the table.”

Phoebe hoped Ten enjoyed listening to Dale Albertson and the
inevitable bevy of hookers he brought to the suite. She checked one last time
to make sure it was secure. “Really? He doesn’t make you think of a walking
venereal disease? Don’t get me wrong. He’s hot, but he also travels with a
harem.”

Erin didn’t seem fazed. “I’m just trying to scratch an itch.
I shove a condom on his probably lovely penis and we’re good to go. He looks
like a man who knows what he’s doing and he doesn’t look sticky, if you know
what I mean.”

“I don’t.” She groaned a little when she realized they couldn’t
leave Albertson on the floor. If they were going to keep up the story that
they’d been helping a drunk dude get to bed, they should probably actually get
him there. “We need to get him on the bed.”

Erin shoved the papers back in. “I’ll get him. So I was
talking about sticky dudes and how Kamdar is really the perfect guy for me to
play around with. Your boy is a perfect example of sticky.”

“He is not.” Jesse was scrupulously clean. And he kept her
clean. She could still feel his hands soaping her body and washing her hair.
His fingers had run all along her scalp, relaxing her. He’d even dried her off
and made sure she was warm.

Erin stalked out and it only took a second before she walked
back in, hauling him by one arm. Phoebe had to give it to her. Erin was a
strong woman. “He is stuck to you like glue. When you walk into a room, bam, he
sticks.”

He did kind of make sure he always had a hand on her when
they were together. It was nice. It made her feel safe. Protected. Loved. She
didn’t want to lose it. Didn’t want to lose him. “There’s nothing wrong with
that. It just means he cares.”

She huffed a little as she leaned down and then hefted
Albertson up on the bed. “I don’t want anyone to care. I’ve done the married
thing before. I won’t again. So pretty boy Theo can find some other idiot to
play his games with.”

“I don’t think he’s trying to play a game.”

“It’s always a game, Phoebe. Haven’t you figured that out
yet?”

A minute and a half. She would have to figure out Erin’s
damage another time. “Time to head out. We need to get back to the party. The
cameras come on soon.”

Erin nodded and pulled the covers over him. “Let’s do it.”
She turned and then stopped. “Shit.”

Phoebe turned and saw what Erin was looking at. Right there
on the dresser was a newspaper.
The Dallas Morning News
. She
recognized the issue. It had a picture of the husk that was Sanctum after the
bombing and a shot of Jesse Murdoch in all his blond glory.

Phoebe stepped up and looked down. The article was marked,
certain information circled, and even worse, there was a notepad beside it with
two names written on it. Ian Taggart and Tennessee G. Smith.

She heard the sound of Erin’s phone as it took one and then
two pictures, and then she felt a tug on her arm. “Time to go.”

She let Erin lead her out of the room, her heart racing.

Someone was on to them.

* * * *

“I’m not a complete moron,” Jesse said as he pushed through
the doors into the suite.

Simon closed the doors behind them. “Funny, because you do
seem to be acting that way. Were you or were you not about to accost your
girlfriend in the middle of the ballroom?”

“I wasn’t going to accost Phoebe. I don’t really know what
that means. But I was going to castrate that son of a bitch.” He knew how to do
it, too. He’d castrated a couple of bulls in his time. The trick was to do it
quick, before the damn thing knew what was happening. He wouldn’t be cruel when
he did it. He would be as humane as possible, but that little pecker wouldn’t
be rubbing against Jesse Murdoch’s girl again.

“Yes, cutting that man’s balls off would absolutely have
helped our mission,” Simon replied drolly.

“He was looking at her breasts.” Those were his breasts. He
took care of those breasts. He loved them and rubbed them and sucked them, and
they were fucking his.

“I believe that was the point of putting them on display.
She was trying to get attention so you and I could look around and attempt to
uncover your former torturer. And her dress is quite modest by Western
standards.”

“Well, by my standards, he was looking at her breasts.” He
knew he was being stubborn, but the idea of that man getting his hands on
Phoebe made him sick. She was precious. She shouldn’t have to get pawed by some
man who didn’t love her.

He was the only one who got to paw her, damn it.

“I doubt he’s looking at her breasts now,” Simon replied.

Jesse sent his partner a nasty look and forced his way into
the control room. “Where is she?”

Hutch had a Red Vine licorice sticking out of his mouth like
a cigarette. His setup was neat, but it was obvious the man had a sweet tooth.
Besides the pack of Red Vines, there was a dish of Tootsie Rolls and another of
peppermints. He reached up and pulled the licorice out as he frowned, pointing
at the bank of laptops he had going. “She’s fine. Well, I’m pretty sure she’s
fine. I had to work a little magic and get those cameras to go wonky. The guys
in security are probably flipping out by now.”

Ten stepped in, a bottle of water in his hand. “Their time’s
up. Bring the cameras back online. Security can buy that the system has a
glitch for only so long. They’ll be on their way to fix it if we don’t get them
back online.”

Phoebe was out there and the only thing protecting her was
the camera blackout. “No. Wait until she calls back.”

Hutch ignored him, hitting the button that brought the
cameras back up.

Phoebe and Erin were in the elevator, speaking animatedly.
Hutch hit a button that put their comms on speaker.

“How much had that guy had to drink?” Erin asked.

Phoebe shook her head. “Enough that he was disgusting.
Someone should talk to the senator about him. That was embarrassing.”

Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. Their heads were turned up
as though they couldn’t care less if a camera caught them. Just two women who
had been hit on by a jerk. They’d still done the right thing by making sure he
got to his room.